House Majority Leader Eric Cantor said Democratic leadership should move to strip New York Rep. Anthony Weiner of his committee assignment in an attempt to dislodge him from Congress.

The second-ranking Republican in the House said he hopes that Democratic leaders “begin to move…toward things like perhaps stripping him of his” spot on the Energy and Commerce Committee — a move that would be an uptick in action against the 13-year veteran of the House after he sent more than a dozen lewd photographs to women over the Internet.

Text Size

POLITICO 44

“I don’t think that we have time for this,” Cantor (R-Va.) said, adding that he has said all he plans to say on the issue. “We obviously have a lot of other issues to be concerned with.”

Congress is back in session Monday and Weiner is still a major topic of discussion inside the Capitol. He is not expected to show up for evening votes, as his office said in a statement he plans to take a leave of absence to get treatment. Minority Leader Nancy Pelosi’s office has not yet receive a request for leave from Weiner.

Minority Leader Nancy Pelosi (D-Calif.), Democratic National Committee Chair Rep. Debbie Wasserman Schultz (Fla.) and Democratic Congressional Campaign Committee Rep. Steve Israel (N.Y.) have all called on Weiner to leave Congress. White House Press Secretary Jay Carney told reporters aboard Air Force One to North Carolina that Weiner has proven a “distraction” for the White House.

Speaker John Boehner (R-Ohio) has not yet called for Weiner to resign. Pelosi’s office did not have immediate comment on whether they’d seek to strip him of his committee assignments.

Both parties have acted to strip embattled lawmakers of their committee posts in recent years, although Republicans have been far more aggressive on this front. Part of the reason for this is the House Democratic Caucus is far more fractured along factions lines – racial, political and regional – than its GOP counterpart.

The fact is we don't have time for this. Congress is supposed to work for the people--if a congressperson is otherwise unable to perform their function (and believe me, I use the term loosely); that person should step aside and allow another to handle the role instead. Why is this so difficult? Could be because Congress doesn't operate like business (and many, including Weiner, have never worked in the private sector); in private business, Weiner would have been out with the first revelations. And since Weiner has never held an actual job and is ill prepared for life on the "outside", he'll cling to his tile as long as he possibly can.

A White House spokesman said Monday that Rep. Anthony Weiner (D-N.Y.) is a "distraction" from important issues, but he stopped short of calling for Weiner's resignation.

White House press secretary Jay Carney, who refused to comment on the scandal last week, said Monday that "the president feels, we feel at the White House this is a distraction."

"As Congressman Weiner has said himself, his behavior was inappropriate, dishonesty was inappropriate," Carney said, briefing reporters aboard Air Force One. "But the president is focused on his job, which is getting this economy continuing to grow, creating jobs and ensuring the safety and security of the American people."

When pressed on whether Obama would like to see Weiner resign, Carney demurred.

"I answered that question," Carney said. "We think it's a distraction from the important business that this president needs to conduct and Congress need to conduct. Beyond that I don't have any more comment."

Weiner entered a rehab facility over the weekend and has requested a leave of absence from the House while he seeks treatment.

"""Surprised by this reaction? Don't be! This is what the Leftists, Progressives and Socialists (aka dems) have embraced. This is the type of conduct these people have embraced. Anything and Everything is acceptable. There are no lines drawn. This is the sort of "Trash" infesting our government."""

WASHINGTON — The Federal Bureau of Investigation is giving significant new powers to its roughly 14,000 agents, allowing them more leeway to search databases, go through household trash or use surveillance teams to scrutinize the lives of people who have attracted their attention.

t does not take a survey to realize that powerful political leaders do not follow traditional sexual standards, they cut their own paths. And it does not take a survey to realize that most of the employees of a healthy politician have spent some time in his bedroom. It also does not take a survey to realize that if asked, those same politicians would lie to coverup their Non-traditional sexual behavior. Is it surprising that a healthy politician such as Weiner also tells lies? Lets stop making him a scapegoat.

When Weiner (D-Queens, Brooklyn) was photographed by the Daily News fleeing the Capitol in his Nissan Pathfinder, it was clear the July 2007 registration sticker in his window was expired, and there was no inspection sticker to be seen. Weiner, through a staffer, said the 1988 Nissan Pathfinder was registered in New York State.

Not so, said the state Department of Motor Vehicles.

The New York license plate bolted on Weiner’s Pathfinder - US Congress 9 – had expired as of 2006, according to the DMV.

“That license plate should not be on a car,” a DMV spokeswoman said. It wasn’t even issued to the Pathfinder, but to another one of Weiner’s cars, a Honda, according to vehicle records.